November 28, 2008

Let us make change happen NOW

Filed under: changing India — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Sucheta Dalal @ 2:31 pm

As we salute the martyrs of the terrorist attack on Mumbai, let us also pause for a moment to think about where do we go from here. All of you have heard the outrage from the rich and the famous. Now that their favourite watering holes are no longer safe havens they are waking up to the fact that our constables are expected to protect us, armed with a puny lathi or completely outdated rifles. Or, that they are made to work for days on end without so much as proper food or conveyance allowance. The elite class is suddenly agitated that large masses of the police force, the guns and official vehicles are commandeered to protect corrupt and debauched politicians – the very same politicians whose lumpen armies go about destroying our meagre public infrastructure at the tiniest signal from these so-called leaders.
Let us not worry about why India’s rich and famous are waking up today. Let us welcome the fact that they have woken up; if only because the terrorists did not spare those who can stay or dine at India’s most expensive hotels. Instead, let us use this unique opportunity to co-opt them into our effort to change this country. It is a country that is worth fighting for. One that a Sandeep Unnikrishnan, and scores like him are willing to lay down their lives for. Let us at least initiate a civilian effort to reduce their burden by drawing up a plan for change.

The Action Plan
What can we do? Here is a preliminary list of possible actions. You can contribute to the list and help with the creation of an action plan to ensure effective implementation. Let us work at the change NOW. We are inspired by America, which atoned for the second term to George W Bush by voting decisively for change by putting a black man into the White House. Let us plan for change NOW when the rich and powerful, who enrich our venal political class, are feeling sh

and threatened and want to support such a move. Let us plan for change NOW while all of us are feeling angry and agitated enough to do something about it.
What CAN we do, you may ask. Well, let us recognise that the task is humungous and the rot too deep. So we must start by taking small but achievable steps and work towards a larger goal. Here are some thoughts, which you can add to, improve upon and suggest ways to convert into an action plan.
Need Leaders: First, we need to stop whining about the quality of our politicians and work at getting the right people into Parliament. This has to be done systematically. We must have a strategy to get them elected. Since the Indian electoral process is vastly different from that in the US, we cannot have the rise of a single person like Barack Obama who becomes the only focal point for change. Moreover, we do not have one person today within the political establishment who has the visibility and reach of a potential Prime Minister. We need to find such potential leaders and give them a national stature backed by a long-term plan.
Where to find them: In order to do this, we need to draw up a list of a few hundred people who we would like to see in Parliament, in our legislative assemblies and in our municipal corporations. This list will necessarily have to eliminate the brilliant loners and committed cranks who do superb work on their own but are not leader material, that is, they cannot stitch together diverse and sometimes conflicting interests and ideas. There are a lot of people in India who are committed social workers doing excellent work. We have people in the armed forces, the police and in administration who are working honestly and sincerely and would make excellent public representatives. This means identifying people who command tremendous respect and standing in their own localities or what could be their future constituencies.
Management: The next task would be to find a way to get the volunteers, the funding and the technology to help them run a planned campaign.
Think about it. If we do not ensure that we have the right people in Parliament, we will be stuck with two equally scary alternatives. One, be ruled by hothouse politicians who have lived their entire life cocooned in Z+ category security and surrounded by sycophants. Two, even worse, by lumpen leaders who have mastered the art of violent and divisive politics to get themselves elected. Both these categories can only hope to remain in power by amassing wealth to feed their electoral machine in perpetuity. Neither kind of politicians has any qualms about arrogating State wealth or destroying every pillar of democracy through favoured posting of dubious persons to head the police, the judiciary and administration.

Please join me on the discussion forum and let us come up with names names of people who we would like to see as our national leaders. Our next task would be to persuade them to stand for elections and get them elected.

Sucheta Dalal

Viewing 8 Comments

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    September 17
    Terrors hit India,Something Must be done at the Earliest
    Said Country Highest Court Few days back reportedly said even God can not save this country,found to be really true specially when nobody held responsible for the crime against humanities,First such incidents of 1993 was quite eye-opener for the concerned authorities but judicial results came after 12 precious yrs lapse,it's appear that authorities R not concerned with safety of their own people from whom they collect their hard earned money as Taxes and Revenue.One point needed to be noted down by each and every one that not a single resignation voluntary came from top level Government Officer/Politician,Does that means since 1993 there is not a single persons in Government/politics do have Moral,conscious,self-esteemed,God Fear?If this be so then these R the Real moral and legal support to the terrorist.
    "C" the example of top class Police Officer Kiran Bedi,C had moral and resigned on accounts of people coming to her ways on reforms.When SC intervene in to the petty issues like medical students strikes,etc Y can't it suo motto Intervene in loss of Innocent Life by the terror spreading Groups?Doe this mean that Secular (Residual world Class) do not have Right of Drinking water,Foods,Shelters(as dead persons have shelters in Quabarstan/Morgue,while Living Human being passing life on footpath and get crushed by motorist),Primary Health,Primary Educations?Putting their hard efforts for square meals and Sacrifice Life on account of terror act?No amount of money offer as compensations will replace Life,Life is not negotiable,Cream class of the society Yet spending lot of time for compliance of audit,tax,and other laws matters which hardly give real benefits to the society where Resources crunched is tremendous,Single European country do have Greater Budget than INDIA with 1billion populations,If yet all Britisher would have worked till Today,They would have kept INR(Rupees)equivalent to British pound and shown their efficiency of Governing well,Here Government Hiding their inefficiency by depreciating Rs?It's High time to professionalized Police forces,Instead of wasting Lawyers/C.a energy in Civil matters cases of Taxation Bank audits,Compulsory periodical surprised audit of police force records is urgently needed.Technology up gradations of the systems is very much herculean task India yet to surpass.
    The above blog published on 17.09.2008 on earlier attack on country,
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    This is hoax perpertrated by a very clever fellow to defranchise educated ,computer savy Indians who may be patriotic but donot know the full extant of the scam. VOTE PLEASE. VOTE PLEASE VOTE PLEASE.
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    This terrorist attack from the Orient is unforgivable. How to avoid that such action repeat itself. This is hard to say. Asia population is over 2 billion people. Among such a huge crowd, there will always be a few men ready to make crazy actions as they do not value their own life. This is, I am sorry to say, unavoidable.
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    Here is an appeal to the educated that brought a response of eerie silence except from a few living abroad who found it thought provoking. We first need to make thinking men of the mice and then follow your advice to bring some order and sense in governance of this country.

    As an educated upright, affluent Indian have you ever thought that when you do nothing on:-

     Seeing papers of foreigners/ strangers being checked without any check on their bags.
     Seeing Policeman armed with bamboo sticks guard vital installations.
     Seeing and hearing news of sub standard bullet proof vests being supplied to those who guard us by risking their lives.
     Seeing and hearing news of four gunmen arriving in a boat, landing near a national landmark; killing over 200 of our fellow men trapped in buildings and public places besieged by gunmen spreading terror.
     Seeing on Television our Legislative Assembly’s and Parliament being filled by men and women whose antics would shame a fish market gathering.
     Seeing and hearing news of our public servants murdered by elected representatives, when they fail to cough up the extortion money demanded of them for a birthday bash of the Chief Minister of the area.

    As India’s young, educated professionals you can be accused of a kind of secessionism. While the poor vote in droves, you often sit elections out. You move into gated communities, sequestering yourselves from the country around; work for foreign firms in industrial parks that do not depend on the State for electricity and water; and insulate yourselves from the smoggy air and potholed roads in your sleek sedans.

    When you pay no attention to public life, you get what you pay for.
    In an earlier age of scarcity, the educated concentrated, understandably, on themselves, not on saving the world. But they continue to do so in an age of abundance, as the quest to make money overwhelms other quests. The young long to be bankers and programmers, not intelligence analysts or generals.
    But two hundred of your fellow countrymen are dead – for no reason except that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time - and you still get up the next morning, behave and act is if nothing has happened, you have already been defeated… To say that this is the spirit of Mumbai is to speak a lie.
    … the enemy has broken your spirit – the enemy has taken away the tears that should flow – the enemy has subdued the rage that should boil over – the enemy has already won over your soul - a soul that feels compelled to go to work the next day and pretend as if nothing has happened.
    Where did we the descendants of Arjuna get this spirit? How do we change this spirit?
    The most intriguing plan to bring about this change may be the revival of an old, failed idea; that India be run by its brightest, not dullest, bulbs.

     Let us reflect on this today and pledge to save our present and future generations from mis-governance by coming forward to take responsibility and bring about a change.
     Let us start by ending the year 2008, without any celebrations as a mark of respect to the valiant commandos, policeman and employees who gave away their lives to save the lives of trapped innocent people.
     Let us organize prayers meeting in our Temples, Gurudwaras, Mosques and Churches on 1st January,2009, to pay homage to these martyrs and seek wisdom and courage to face the challenge posed by those who want to demolish our spirit by spreading terror and killing innocent people.
     The money saved on New Years eve celebrations can be used to provide for the families of those who laid down their lives for keeping the spirit of India alive
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    " Let us welcome the fact that terrorists did not spare them "..... you are welcoming terrorist attacks on the rich? what the hell?
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    sorry boss, it was a slip and has been corrected... even though the tone of the blog made the meaning clear.
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    Great post Sucheta, your post and write up has big meaning and a message out to the common man.
    The Mumbai attackes have made the rich and famous alert. Till now it was the man on the road or general citizems affected largely but this one hit the biggies and is an alert for the country.
    The measures you have outlines are the ones which are but obvious and it is high time we get together make things happen for the benefits of none other than we ourselves.
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    Good post mam ... :)
 
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